


Ballet

by dustenigmas



Series: What Marisa could have been [2]
Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:28:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustenigmas/pseuds/dustenigmas
Summary: [...] At the end of her first lesson, Marisa waited for Lyra with a smile on her face and outstretched arms to pick up her daughter on her lap. No matter how big her daughter was, Marisa could not avoid the need to always have Lyra in her arms. Maybe for fear of one day losing her, maybe for fear of what they might have been if years ago they had stayed in the other world."How was it, my dear?" Marisa was very curious."Pan thought the girls were too silly." Lyra shrugged as if she didn't want to talk about the class. [...]Marisa believes the ballet will help in her way to make Lyra extraordinary.
Relationships: Lyra Belacqua & Marisa Coulter
Series: What Marisa could have been [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105424
Kudos: 17





	Ballet

**Author's Note:**

> I had a dream about this fanfic a few nights ago and had to write about it. I hope you like it and comment on it.

Marisa was delighted to discover that the new world also had a ballet academy. The dance was a very vivid reminder of her world, in which she took ballet lessons as a child and participated in performances at political events organized by her parents. 

She never wanted to have a career in dance, and even if she did she couldn't.

The young woman wanted Lyra to try this kind of art, it would be an attempt to tame the wild and electric girl, who always got into trouble and did not understand why some things could not be done. Lyra was a girl with many friends at school, which relieved Marisa greatly, except when her daughter got closer to boys - yes, she did not trust them completely, even if they were children no older than seven. In any case, Marisa was always invited to the headmaster's office, her daughter apparently did not like to follow the school rules very much and always led to trouble with her friends. 

Only that week Marisa was asked twice to attend the board, Lyra had incited a rebellion in the classroom because the teacher demanded the children complete the tasks first, before any fun in the playground. Nonsense, according to Lyra. 

As a mother, Marisa was irritated by her daughter's rebellion, but part of her was proud of the girl's strong opinions, she knew that Lyra would not be like any woman, she would be extraordinary. She was already special. But as Marisa learned well from her own mother, to be extraordinary will require effort and dedication, so she enrolled Lyra in the ballet. An activity that would occupy part of her daughter's free time, a space that would teach her patience and the art of balance.

A way to tame your rebellious little girl. 

"Lyra, I guarantee you'll love your lessons." 

"This outfit is all stupid, my hair hurts." Lyra complained, she didn't want to let Marisa finish tidying her hair, well stuck so that rebellious hairs wouldn't fall on her face. 

"All the girls wear these clothes to the ballet, you look lovely!" Marisa knew that her daughter was not very excited for her first dance class, but she would soon be used to this kind of activity. 

"Why can't I do something nice like Roger? he is in the football school, he always has a bruised knee, but he said it's a lot of fun. In football, you can run and..."

Lyra was unable to finish her talk, Marisa interrupted her with the excuse that they would be late. The young woman did not like the closeness that Lyra had with Roger, which was a prejudgment she carried from the other world, where boys and girls should not be so friendly, where there were activities only for boys and others only for girls. The new world was very different. Although Marisa had been in the new world since Lyra was born, she still had difficulty in adjusting to some issues, which made her sometimes called a chauvinist by some neighbors. 

Marisa did not want to deny Lyra a happy childhood, she wanted the best for her little girl. The best was ballet - the young woman hoped her daughter would enjoy the dance as much as she did at the same age. 

In the other world, the ballet was the only moment in Marisa's entire childhood that she felt she had any control over, that she could dominate. 

At the end of her first lesson, Marisa waited for Lyra with a smile on her face and outstretched arms to pick up her daughter on her lap. No matter how big her daughter was, Marisa could not avoid the need to always have Lyra in her arms. Maybe for fear of one day losing her, maybe for fear of what they might have been if years ago they had stayed in the other world. 

"How was it, my dear?" Marisa was very curious. 

"Pan thought the girls were too silly." Lyra shrugged as if she didn't want to talk about the class. 

"Silly? And you? Did you also find the girls silly?" Marisa wanted to know. 

The golden monkey, hidden in Marisa's bag, watched Pan with curiosity. In this world, mother and daughter took every care to prevent anyone from discovering their true origin. A secret that Lyra knew very well how to keep. However painful it was, Pan had to repress himself in public, taking the form of an insect or a bird, so that they would not associate him with Lyra. Necessary harm. 

"They're not like Roger and Billy... they're..."

"Soft?" Marisa tried.

"Yes!" Lyra sighed.

"My dear, not all girls are like you. Some girls don't like the same things you do, they may prefer to play with dolls rather than run with boys around".  


"I wish they were like Roger."

Marisa was about to get really angry, she was trying to understand her daughter's affection for the boy, but it was almost impossible. Lyra did not even want to meet other people, different children who could fill her life in other ways. 

"Lyra, we have to talk." 

Lyra did not like those four words that came out of her mother's mouth, they usually indicated that Marisa was only a very small step away from being mad. Marisa mad was something the girl tried to avoid, even if sometimes the girl pushed the limits to see how far her mother would keep the smile on her face.

When they arrived home, Pan could finally take his ferret form, his favorite with Lyra. A form he couldn't take outside the house, according to Marisa. The golden monkey quickly left Marisa's bag and moved towards Pan. The daemons' relationship was one of love and hate. Marisa's daemon sometimes punished Pan for Lyra's disobedience, it was not something that often happened, but still happened. 

It was always Pan who paid for Lyra's disobedience. 

Lyra and Marisa sat down on the sofa to talk, as they always did when the matter was serious. 

"Darling, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Marisa wanted to be absolutely sure that her daughter would comprehend every word. 

"Yes, Mother. But can you please help me untangle my hair first? My head hurts..." Lyra appealed to Marisa's sentimental side. 

Marisa knew her daughter very well to know that Lyra only wanted to postpone the conversation. 

"Sure, come here." Marisa led Lyra into the hallway bathroom, helped her daughter to climb onto a chair in front of the vertical mirror. That mirror was Marisa's favorite, it allowed Lyra to see every step of her mother's way to look after her, to help the girl get ready for school. 

In fact, it was Marisa's attempt to make Lyra more feminine. 

Mother and daughter faced each other by reflection. Marisa was masterfully removing the straps from Lyra's hair as if she were used to it and that was not the first ballet class. 

"What do you see, Lyra?"

"You and I." Lyra replied without thinking twice. 

"Do you know what I see? An incredible little girl, extremely energetic and who has very strong opinions, but who is attached to some things. Lyra, you don't have to have just one friend or just one kind of friend. You can have friends who like football, others who like ballet. Don't you think it's good that people are different? Why do you want to restrict yourself to having different friendships now?" 

Lyra was thoughtful. Her mother had made a point, something she had not thought of until then. 

"But won't I be betraying my friends? I won't betray Roger and Billy?" Lyra looked at her hands, avoiding looking in the mirror and supporting Marisa's gaze. 

"Of course not, my dear. You'll still be their friend, but you'll also have other friends at the ballet. You know... I could take a peek at the end of your class and saw that you were laughing with one of the girls in your class. Wasn't that fun?" Marisa cared for her daughter's rebellious hair. 

"Yes! Anne is very nice, she wanted to do football too! Mum, can I do football with Anne? We think it'll be cooler than ballet..." 

Marisa was in shock, she didn't expect that. Inside, she hoped that her daughter had made a new friend who encouraged her to dance, who would motivate her to keep going to class. Lyra all dressed up for the ballet was a vision the young woman hoped to have constantly. 

Lyra's new friend did not want ballet either. Lyra's new friend wanted football. Lyra's new friend preferred injured knees to learning a Plie. 

"Lyra!" Marisa was on the edge. 

The girl looked in the mirror once more, her mother faced her with an angry expression. 

"But I want football, Mom." Lyra sighed. "I can be extraordinary doing football."

"What's so wrong with ballet? You only had one class."

Lyra smiled. The little girl had an idea, which would make her mother stop being so insistent with the ballet idea and would lead her to achieve her football goal, at least that was what she believed. 

"Mom, let's make a deal." 

Marisa raised her eyebrows, her daughter was really a surprise box. Extraordinary. If she could send it, no one would be a match for Lyra. 

"I can do ballet and football. If you let me do football with Roger, I'll do the silly ballet lessons." 

Marisa laughed. The young woman should have expected such an idea from her daughter, but she was not so naive as to think that Lyra would make an effort and devote herself to ballet if she allowed her to attend the school's football lessons. An idea came to Marisa, one that Lyra could not refuse and would be the best offer she could make. 

"You can do Lyra football if that's something you really want to try, but you will only go to football lessons next year if you show me that you've really devoted yourself to ballet and if you attend the ballet performances that the academy does. You're not going to mess with the other girls, you're not going to call them silly, but you're going to try to get to know them, maybe they won't surprise you". 

"That's not fair!"

"That's my only offer to you, Lyra."

Lyra made a desolate expression, which would have melted anyone's heart, but Marisa knew her well enough to know her daughter's tricks, which included her manipulation - what she learned from Marisa, observing her mother at her business meetings or in the guidance of academics. 

"Okay." 

"Dear, a word of advice... In order not to have a counter-proposal that destroys your original idea, you must bring a good proposal, with confidence. I told you, being extraordinary requires effort and dedication, that includes getting things right". Marisa said as soon as she took Lyra off the bench. 

Pan and the golden monkey observed the interaction of mother and daughter without making a single sound, but when Marisa gave the advice, Pan laughed and turned into a wild cat to then turn into a black monkey. 

"Effort and dedication, Lyra" Pan mocked. 

The mocking didn't come cheap, the golden monkey slapped Pan as a warning. 

Marisa looked bad at Lyra, who had fun with Pan's mocking. 

"You're impossible."


End file.
